Danny Boy
by manic bipolar pretzel
Summary: A sad, sweet ficlet about that fateful night in October. Please, r


Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling, and I do not own Harry Potter.  
  
A/N: I was just thinking of the song Danny Boy when the idea for this story came to me. It's sad, I know, but I think that it gives you hope for the future, too. This is just a ficlet; there won't be a follow up, but please read and review. Thanks!  
  
"Hush now, Harry, it's time for bed. Ssh, ssh, Daddy just got home from work and we don't want to wake him. Hush, Harry," Lily Potter crooned to her baby boy, now almost one year old. It was getting late that night in October, and she was readying Harry for bed. James had returned from work anxious and worried, but Lily had made him rest before they talked. It would not do to upset Harry at such a young age.  
  
Lily cradled her son against her as she carried him over to his bed. He smiled at her through emerald eyes that mirrored her own. She smiled down upon the younger image of her husband, and was pleased to hear Harry laugh in return.  
  
As she laid Harry down to sleep, he chirped, "Song! Song!"  
  
"Alright, Harry, but just one. Which one would you like tonight?"  
  
"Danny, pwease," he replied, smiling.  
  
Lily shook her head, laughter shining in her eyes. She never really understood why Harry requested this song so often, but she did remember when he had first heard it. She had been cleaning the house, humming the tune to "Danny Boy." He had fallen in love with the mournful melody immediately.  
  
"Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling  
  
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side  
  
The summer's gone, and all the flowers are dying  
  
'Tis you, 'tis you must go and I must bide," Lily sang sweetly.  
  
Harry smiled in delight, his baby voiced slurred by sleep as he joined her in the next verse:  
  
"But come ye back when summer's in the meadow  
  
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow  
  
'Tis I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow  
  
Oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy, I love you so"  
  
His eyes began to droop downward as he sang on with his mother:  
  
"And if you come, when all the flowers are dying  
  
And I am dead, as dead I well may be  
  
You'll come and find the place where I am lying  
  
And kneel and say an "Ave" there for me"  
  
Lily smiled at her son once more, as sleep finally claimed him. Quietly, singing to herself, she finished off the ballad:  
  
"And I shall hear, tho' soft you tread above me  
  
And all my dreams will warm and sweeter be  
  
If you'll not fail to tell me that you love me  
  
I'll simply sleep in peace until you come to me  
  
I'll simply sleep in peace until you come to me."  
  
"That was beautiful, Lily," James said as Lily straightened.  
  
"I thought you were going to rest, like I told you," she replied with a wry smile on her face.  
  
"I tried, but what I need to tell you is too important."  
  
Beckoning James into the living room and away from the slumbering Harry, she motioned for him to continue.  
  
"Lily, I've just found out the most dreadful news. Maybe you should sit down."  
  
James watched as his wife's already pale face turned white. "Oh no, James, not another family. Who is it this time?"  
  
"Us."  
  
"Us? But how? Peter's our Secret Keeper, and I know he would never tell-"  
  
"He already has," James interrupted, his voice harsh. "He's been spying for Voldemort for years, and he's already let him know where we are. Lily, we need to move. Now."  
  
"Move again, James? And Peter? Are you sure? I can't imagine-"  
  
"He's betrayed us, Lily! And Voldemort could come for us at any time! We need to leave!"  
  
Lily sank back into a couch wearily. "Oh James, I'm so tired of running. I hate this, living in fear, always glancing over our shoulders. . . I don't want to run anymore."  
  
"But Lily, please," James begged, desperation apparent in his voice. "We're not ready to fight him yet. If we fight now, Voldemort will win. He will win, Lily, and the Order will have to start all over again! We cannot afford to risk losing this chance!"  
  
"James, I can't run and hide anymore. We've been hiding for two years. I am through being scared and frightened into submission."  
  
"But you're not in submission. We are living in defiance, not fear. We are fighting him, Lily, and we are slowly making ground. If we die now, the Order will lose what little it has gained."  
  
Lily looked at her husband with deadened eyes. "James, I cannot run."  
  
James would not give up on her. "You cannot run to save yourself? Then run for me, Lily. Run for your son. Run for those who died already, and those who will die in the fight. Run for the future."  
  
Lily shook her head. "I cannot do it for myself, or even for you, James. We have both lived full lives, however long or short thy may be. I have no regrets. But Harry has yet to live. For our son's future, I have strength enough to run."  
  
James gave Lily a grim smile. "I want you and Harry to leave tonight. I'll stay behind to distract Him, and give you and Harry time to get away. If I survive, we'll meet up again later-"  
  
"No, James. I will not abandon you."  
  
"But Lily-"  
  
James was cut off as his wife gave him an impassioned kiss. She pulled back a little, and said, "We are a family, and I swore to stay with you until I die."  
  
"No-" James started to protest, but stopped as he heard a noise outside. A noise too few had heard and lived to tell about. Hauntingly, horrifying, as though he was invading their very souls, Lord Voldemort's laughter rang throughout the house.  
  
"Lily, it's Him. Take Harry and go!"  
  
"James-"  
  
"Go!"  
  
"I love you," Lily whispered as she rushed to Harry's room.  
  
"Love you, too," James whispered back.  
  
Lily picked up the still slumbering Harry and ran to the back of the house. To her horror, she heard the front door burst open and Voldemort's high- pitched cackle. Tears began rushing down her face as she heard a thud, and knew her husband had died.  
  
Suddenly, Lily's face became set as she came to a decision. She laid down her baby one last time, and sang to the sleeping boy:  
  
"Oh Harry boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling  
  
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side  
  
The summer's gone, and all the flowers are dying  
  
'Tis I, 'tis I must go and you must bide"  
  
Tears streaming down her face, she gave her son one last kiss and whispered, "I love you, Harry. Be a good boy for Mommy and Daddy." She heard Voldemort walking towards the back of the house, getting closer to her and her son step by step. "I'll see you again. Bye, love."  
  
Harry slept on as his world came crashing down around him. He didn't know that one day he would be the one to save the world. He didn't know that the most evil wizard he world had ever seen was coming to murder his mother, ad try to murder him, too. He didn't know that, at that moment, his mother was sacrificing her life for him. He was just a baby, having a nice dream about playing with his Mommy and Daddy, and together they all sang:  
  
Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling  
  
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side  
  
The summer's gone, and all the flowers are dying  
  
'Tis you, 'tis you must go and I must bide 


End file.
